Friday, July 4, 2014

Grigg: Happy Insurrection Day!

Ran across this classic again today. It is so outstanding that I felt the need to have it bookmarked here.

Just a teaser:

It's hardly surprising that the Wilson regime effectively criminalized
the Declaration: Like collectivists of all ages, Wilson assumed that
man, who was created for the state, should be pitifully grateful for whatever transient "liberties" he was given by the state, and should be prepared to sacrifice everything on behalf of the state.

"It
is not an army we must shape and train for war, it is a nation," Wilson
declared, as he centralized the economy, orchestrated a frenzy of war
hatred against Germany, and moved to impose conscription. His Vice
President, Thomas Marshall, urged that citizenship be formally revoked
for anyone found to be "not heartily in support of the Government in
this crisis."

Bernard Baruch, chairman of the War Industries
Board and de facto commissar of the economy, explained the logic of
Wilson's war regime in admirably frank terms: "Every man's life is at
the call of the nation and so must be every man's property.... The state
is all; the individual is of importance only as he contributes to the
welfare of the state. His property is his only as the state does not
need it. He must hold his life and possessions at the call of the
state."

I'm saving that one for the next Wilson apologist I run into. Jeez, what awful people.

And Grigg's wrap-up is exactly what you'd expect from him:

What if, instead of starting every day being marinated in the language of submission (to pledge "allegiance," after all, is to proclaim one's status as a vassal bound in service to a feudal lord, or "liege"),
youngsters were taught, on a daily basis, the principles of
self-responsibility, individual liberty, and principled rebellion? As
I stated earlier, if this kind of thing were to become common, our
rulers would simply criminalize the Declaration. They've done it before,
and they would be more than happy to do so permanently.The
sobering truth is that, due to the cultivated docility of the American
populace, Jefferson's document, much like the Constitution created
eleven years later, poses no threat to the designs of our rulers.